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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Surprise! I am here but I am not really here.... At the beginning of the year I mentionned that there would be some new and familiar faces coming by to mend the fort while I would focus on deadlines for the cookbook. The support these people have given me is beyond any expectations whether it be a "hey! Whassup?!", a "dude! Calm down and breathe!" or a single image they took or post they wrote moved me in many different ways. I also thought that asking them to guest post would let you discover amazing people if you don't know them already. They won't all be food bloggers, but they do have a couple of things in common: talent and a love of all things sweet.I'll be back next post!Today, it's my very own hero Jen of Use Real Butter keeping you company. I discovered Jen through the Daring Bakers and our friendship has grown in the most delicious way this past year. She is funny, bubbly, and sincere. She gives it to you as it is, has a very opiniated opinion (her words), a mouth watering blog and brilliant food photography. We have a say in our house "Jen's...that's what for dinner!"

I am positive I will go to my grave with a long list of desserts trailing behind me... I don't mean my gluteus maximus (hey, I'm keeping it clean since this isn't my blog), I mean a list of dessert recipes that I want to make. For every new recipe I master, there are at least three or four that I add to the list. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't master recipes, I just make them, shoot them, post them, and pawn them off on friends and neighbors. Despite this sisyphean endeavor to work my way through The List, imagine my delight and astonishment when I am introduced to a completely new dessert.

sprinkle gelatin over cream and water

I think Tartelette will laugh when she learns that the first time I ever heard of Blancmange was when I was in junior high and listened to the British synthpop band by that very name. It wasn't until 20+ years later *gasp* that I sunk my teeth into the dessert, blancmange, at my aunt's house. Utterly delightful stuff.

ground almonds and sugar

If you told me that I could not eat chocolate ever again, I would not be heart-broken. I like to make things with chocolate, but I am okay without eating it. Now, if you said the same thing about cream-based desserts, I might sit down and have a cry because I actually enjoy eating them almost as much as I enjoy making them.

add some amaretto to the cream (you boozehounds, you)

Having tried blancmange once before, I found a recipe for a modern variation on the dessert in one of my cookbooks. This one contains ground almonds - enticing! Based on other recipes I've perused, it looks as if blancmange is typically very smooth - a thickened cream-based dessert that is served unmolded. I ran into one discrepancy in the recipe, which was to use 1.5 cups of blanched almonds and in parentheses, the recipe said 4.5 ounces. That's not right at all. 1.5 cups yielded 7.5 ounces. In hindsight, I think I'd go with 4.5 ounces and I'll make a note of that in the recipe.

folding whipped cream into the almond cream mixture

Even with a lot more almond than I think the recipe should have had, it was delightful. I would probably grind the almonds down finer than I did for a creamier consistency in the future. The process of folding in the whipped cream lends to the airy texture of the dessert. I made individual servings in ramekins, which unmolded with some stubborness. That may have been due to the high almond content.

these will set in a couple of hours in the refrigerator

The resulting texture was slightly thicker than mousse. If unmolding had not worked, I could have easily served the blancmange in lovely quenelles (although I'm not sure that would fly if I had made the recipe with less almonds). Either way, the important accompaniment is the fruit. Any combination of berries, drupes, you name it, pairs lovingly with the almond and cream. It also looks as stunning as it tastes. A simple and elegant recipe to serve.

et voilà

Modern Almond BlancmangeRecipe:from Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax

*the recipe says to use 1 1/2 cups which 66% more than 4 1/2 ounces, so if you want a really almondy dessert, go for it, otherwise I think 1 cup is sufficient.

In a small saucepan, combine the 1/3 cup of cream and the cold water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface and let stand for about 5 minutes. Stir over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. Set aside. Pulse the almonds and the sugar in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. When the gelatin mixture has cooled slightly, stir in the kirsch or Amaretto. Add the ground almond mixture and stir until combined. Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups cream to soft peaks (do not overbeat). Fold the cream into the almond mixture in thirds. Rinse a 6-8 cup mold or 8 4-ounce ramekins (I did 6 6-ounce ramekins) in cold water. Pour in the mixture and cover with plastic wrap (but don't let the wrap touch the mixture). Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. To serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of the mold. Dip the mold quickly in and out of hot water. Invert the mold onto a moistened plate and unmold. [Or, if you're me, cover the ramekin with plastic wrap after loosening the sides and dipping in hot water, then turn it over and smack it on a kitchen towel on the counter several times. When it finally comes out, use another piece of plastic to cover the top, then invert it again, remove the first piece of plastic, then invert it once more onto the serving plate.] Garnish with lots of fresh fruit (berries, peaches, etc.).

Hi jen! I'm with you on the whole chocolate issue. Not that I'll turn down good chocolate, but give me something delish and creamy and I'm in heaven. thanks for sharing this with us, I have never had it before.

i would definitely cry if someone ever said to me i couldn't have cream based desserts ever again... that would be devastating as custards and such are definitely my weakness. i love blancmange and i have different variations of it too, with almonds, without almonds with creme fraiche, with yogurt... all of them fabulous.

I have been a silent lurker on both your sites and not only am I delighted to know you guys are friends but to see you share blog time. Too many people think of it as a popularity contest, clearly not you guys and that is extremely refreshing.This dessert is very refreshing too and I love the step by step pictures!

Eleonor: good suggestion on lining the ramekins with cheesecloth or wrap. Cheesecloth is more traditional as the blancmanger molds traditionally have holes in them to let the cream drain a bit (it's like an insert with holes set inside the mold).

Hi Jen! Nice to meet you! Thank you for keeping my sister relatively sane during this amazing but lonely time. She talks about her "blogging friends" like she has met them before and now I know why. I bet she wants to adopt your dog too...she is "incorrigible" as we say here. I am happy I have to write comments and not speak them because my accent is terrible compared to hers!!Take care.

Sax's book is wonderful.The first time I ever heard of blancmange, which I have yet to try, was in the book "Little Women," by Louisa May Alcott. I've wanted to try it since I was about 8 years old, and now I know where to find a recipe!

Beautiful photos...the one with the cream partially folded in is gorgeous. Who'd a thunk?!!And the finished dish is stunning. Great guest spot. Can't wait for your cookbook to come out,Helen! I'm sure you'll keep us all posted! Best wishes with that!

Thank you everyone for your comments. For those of you who just discovered Jen's blog, "where you been?!!"...no kidding...I hope that you get inspired to visit her and often.For those of you coming here through Jen's blog, "welcome!" and I hope you will be back!

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments. Nice to meet all of you! And yes, the reason it is so easy to help Helen out is because she is a gem of a friend, one of the nicest people I know and love.

Eleonor - yes, a great idea!

K - that's so kind of you to say. I think Helen and I just have a lot of fun with this :)

Mycookinghut - You can sub almond extract, but I wouldn't use nearly as much... perhaps add 1 tsp at a time and adjust to your liking?

Frero - you can speak all you want. I love French accents! Your sister keeps ME sane :)

Lori - I absolutely agree with you on Helen. I consider myself lucky to be the recipient of her loyal (and hilarious) friendship.

Irene - well, technically almond extract is alcohol... but that would be my first suggestion as a substitution. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Perhaps Helen has a suggestion (she is far more knowledgeable than I am!)

Alcohol question: I would replace it with 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract and 2 1/2 teaspoons of heavy cream to make up the liquid ratio difference. If you wish to use another extract like orange blossom or vanilla, same thing and if you wish to ommit a flavor altogether, I would just add the same amount of liquid in cream.

Tried this recipe yesterday and it´s fabulous.. even though I almost turned the cream into butter while using my flashy new Bosch kitchen machine! I agree that a scant cup of almonds is plenty. Thanks for sharing.

I don't know if this has any relevance, but here in the uk you make blancmange (whether from a package or from scratch) by thickening milk and cream with cornflour, then setting in little dishes or a mould. I'm sure Mrs. Beeton would have written about it. The common brand is "Pearce and Duff's" and comes as flavoured sachets.

In addition, you can occasionally find packages of "Table Cream" made by a now-extinct company called Symingtons. This does include gelatine as well as cornflour and has a firmer, creamier texture.

Either way, a chocolate version of either was always a big part of my childhood birthdays - set in a rabbit mould and sat on a bed of green-jelly 'grass'. Not particularly elegant but very effective.